Contents

History

Magageni is an amazing wild African climbing venue on the escarpment overlooking Loskop Dam. Routes range from 50 to 120m and the rock quality is mostly excellent. The area was climbed at mostly in the '60's and '70's and since then there has been little activity. This means that most of the routes are easier than about grade 20 (or else they have aid) so the place is a playground for first ascents and first free ascents. But you better hurry up because the routes are falling thick and fast.

Ethics

NO BOLTING ON PAIN OF EXECUTION!!!!

Access

The JHB MCSA gets access here once a year for a meet, usually in September. Consult their meet sheet.

The land is privately owned and, although the land-owner is climber-friendly, he values his privacy and his property very highly. So if you want to climb here, go through the MCSA and FOLLOW ALL THE RULES GIVEN BY THE LANDOWNER! Usually he requires:
1) Names and telephone numbers of members of your club who will be in the group.
2) Car registration numbers.
3) Time of arrival.
4) Everyone will have to sign an indemnity form on arrival.

The gates are normally locked and the land-owner makes an arrangement with his employee to open for climbers at a pre-arranged time. DO NOT BE LATE BECAUSE THERE IS NO CELL PHONE SIGNAL AND YOU WILL PISS EVERYONE OFF IF THE GATE-KEEPER IS KEPT WAITING!

There are a number of dwellings on the property. Please stay well away from these and respect the privacy of the land-owner and his family/guests.

Facilities & Camping

There are no facilities. Camping is in the thorn trees by the cars, next to a usually dry dam. NO FIRES ALLOWED! THE RISK OF VELD FIRE IS TOO HIGH!

The campsite is above the cliffs. It is a 15 to 20 minute easy walk down a dirt track to the base of the cliffs. DO NOT DRIVE DOWN THIS ROAD - YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET BACK UP AGAIN!

The Climbing

The crags consist of an East and West Wing, split by a waterfall with a deep pool at the base.
Counter-intuitively, the East Wing faces west (morning shade) and the West Wing faces east (afternoon shade).

The West Wing is the main event with routes between 100 and 150m high. It is very hot in the morning and some of the faces still catch sun in the afternoon. You can find shady routes here though if you start climbing late enough.
The East Wing is shorter (up to about 60m high) and not as extensive. There are, however, some excllent routes.

It works well to do a couple of routes on the East Wing from very early in the morning, to then have a snooze through the heat of the day, and start a big route up the West Wing at about 3pm.

The descent gulley/track descends to the east of the East Wing. There is a very scrappy-looking crag further east of this with one route on it but it really doesn't look worthwhile. It has been dubbed the Scrap Heap.

At the far western end of the West Wing the crag is much shorter. There are currently no routes here but there appears to be some good rock. It looks like it owuld be easiest to access this by walking west along the top and then down past the far end of the crag.

The routes are listed from left to right, looking up.

True right is on the right when looking downstream.

The Scrap Heap

When descending the gulley/track, just after you pop out of the cutting look to your right. You will see a pile of choss. Climb over the wall of the track and traverse to the crag.

The East Wing (to the true right of the waterfall)

Follow the descent gulley/track all the way to where it curves around to the left. It soon runs parallel with the river, directly towards the crag. Just follow the track to a boma, then the continuation path after this through the forest to the big pool. The East Wing is the crag up to your left. Scramble up to the base of the crag and walk left to the routes.

The West Wing (to the true left of the waterfall)

Follow the descent gulley/track all the way to where it curves around to the left. It soon runs parallel with the river, directly towards the crag. Just follow the track to a boma, then the continuation path after this through the forest to the big pool. The West Wing is the main crag up to your right. Cross the river and scramble up to the base of the crag. Walk right along the base to the routes.